Transport Reporter

THE board of Infrastructure NSW decided almost immediately after it was formed that having Max Moore-Wilton, a board member and also the chairman of Sydney Airport Corporation, advise on policies regarding the airport was not a conflict of interest. It then appointed Mr Moore-Wilton to come up with strategies to improve access to the airport.

Minutes of Infrastructure NSW board meetings show Mr Moore-Wilton's dual roles were discussed at its second board meeting, on September 8 last year, in relation to his appointment leading a study into how to clear congestion around the airport.

''Mr Max Moore-Wilton noted that he is Chairman of Sydney Airports [sic] Corporation,'' the minutes say. ''There was general discussion and agreement that there is no conflict of interest, rather INSW will benefit from this expertise in advising the government.''

The issue of the links between the O'Farrell government, to which Infrastructure NSW is an independent advisor, resurfaced this week after the Premier's call to fly more planes in and out of Sydney Airport and his continued rejection of the idea of a second airport in the city.

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The Sydney Airport Community Forum, an organisation founded by the Howard government to monitor noise issues, this week condemned Mr O'Farrell's proposal. Its chairman, Peter Fitzgerald, suggested collusion between the O'Farrell government's desire to fly more planes through Sydney Airport and the interests of the airport corporation.

The minutes of Infrastructure NSW board meetings also shed light on how the organisation came up with such a radically different plan for Sydney's central business district than Transport for NSW.

In its State Infrastructure Strategy, released in September, Infrastructure NSW recommended a bus tunnel under the city. It said a Transport for NSW plan for light rail down George Street would not work without at least the bus tunnel.

This month the government stumped for light rail.

The minutes reveal that Infrastructure NSW and Transport for NSW largely developed their ideas in isolation.

As late as July 16, about six weeks before its final plan was to be finished, board members said a review of the separate Transport for NSW plan ''must happen as soon as possible to ensure alignment as appropriate''.

A spokeswoman for Infrastructure NSW said the organisation received a draft of the Transport for NSW plan on July 31, and a briefing on August 7.

Labor's transport spokeswoman, Penny Sharpe, slammed the lack of consultation between the two agencies.

''That the O'Farrell government's much-touted 20-year infrastructure plan was able to be developed in isolation from any reference to the Long-Term Transport Master Plan was a clear slap in the face to Gladys Berejiklian and Les Wielinga, who led the Master Plan process,'' Ms Sharpe said.

The board minutes were obtained in separate freedom-of-information requests by Fairfax Media and the Labor opposition.

Ms Sharpe also criticised the lack of concern over Mr Moore-Wilton's dual jobs: ''By ignoring Max Moore-Wilton's direct conflict of interest, the INSW board made a mockery of what was supposed to be an independent process to prioritise infrastructure needs in the interests of the people of NSW.''

The Infrastructure NSW chairman, Nick Greiner, has called for the development of a second airport in western Sydney, an idea resisted by Mr Moore-Wilton and Sydney Airport Corporation.